Sheila Bapat is an attorney and writer covering economic and gender justice. Her work has appeared in Jacobin, Salon, Reuters, Slate, Alternet, Truthout, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law, PolicyMatters, and the Center for Women Policy Studies' series, "Reproductive Laws for the 21st Century." Sheila holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Jodi Kantor’s recent front-page New York Times story describes an experiment by the Harvard Business School to transform its deeply sexist culture and “foster women’s success.” But the gender problem in our economy runs much deeper than that.

Along with the enactment of welfare reform 17 years ago this August came tougher practices in debt enforcement—which, in many cases, lands the poor behind bars, leads to suspensions in drivers’ licenses, and other practices that make finding work much harder.

Currently, far fewer women than men are pursuing PhD programs in economics or policy-making positions in general—gaps that dilute or completely exclude women’s experiences in economic policy-making debates.

In an economy rife with low-wage jobs and long-term unemployment for women, the need for reproductive freedom is even more critical. Yet, Ohio’s budget achieves exactly the opposite, as if to mock the state’s women.

New York has been on the forefront of some of the most cutting-edge labor movements, but when it comes to child models, New York is behind more than 20 states that include child models in their state labor codes. That may soon change.